This invention relates generally to protective equipment for athletes, and more specifically concerns elbow and knee guards.
Protection for an athlete's limbs and joints is important in many sports, but particularly in sports such as basketball, where little other equipment is worn and there is substantial contact between the players and/or the players and the playing surface. Elbow and knee guards in particular have long been used in baseketball, not only to protect against possible injury, but also to prevent aggravation of an already injured limb or joint.
To date, however, elbow and knee guards have comprised either a wrap-around elastic bandage, or a tubular elastic element configured to fit over the joint. Such articles suffer from numerous disadvantages. They provide minimal protection for the joint over which they're positioned, and virtually no protection for the sides of the joint. Further, when a protective pad is used with these articles to increase their protective capability, the mobility of the user is diminished substantially. Such articles are often difficult to keep in place during use, and hence they must be either regularly adjusted, or maintained in place by tape or similar means. Even further, such articles are usually quite uncomfortable, as they tend to be constrictive and to interfere with the natural movement of the joint. They also chafe the skin, particularly when they bunch up in the back of the joint during movement.
Due to these disadvantages, such articles are not used nearly as much as is desirable. Many injuries probably can be avoided if adequate protective equipment is used.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved elbow/knee guard which overcomes one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art mentioned above.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an elbow/knee guard which is more comfortable to wear than the elbow/knee guards of the prior art.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such an elbow/knee guard which is configured to conform to the contour of the limb on which it is placed.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide such an elbow/knee guard which flexes with the movement of the joint but stays in place over the joint without additional restraints such as tape.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an elbow/knee guard which results in only a minimal reduction, if any, of the mobility of the user.